Equine diseases encompass a wide range of health conditions that can affect horses, including infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and genetic conditions. These diseases can impact the overall health, performance, and well-being of horses. Common equine diseases include equine influenza, equine herpesvirus, laminitis, and equine metabolic syndrome. Diagnosis and management of these diseases often require a combination of clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and appropriate treatment strategies. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment options for various equine diseases, providing valuable insights for veterinarians and researchers in the field.
The Journal of physiologyAugust 1, 1971
Volume 216, Issue 3 659-682 doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009546
Comline RS, Silver M.1. The content and output of adrenaline and noradrenaline from the equine adrenal medulla has been investigated under different conditions in foetuses, foals and adult mares.2. In the foetus only small amounts of both amines were secreted in response to stimulation of the peripheral ends of the splanchnic nerves to the gland; during anoxia the adrenal discharge was far greater and was independent of any nervous mechanism.3. Whereas in the ruminant a direct adrenal response to low P(O2) is confined to the noradrenaline cells during foetal life only, the adrenal medulla of the foetal foal secret...
Kilmartin JV, Rossi-Bernardi L.1. Three modified horse haemoglobins have been prepared: (i) alpha(c) (2)beta(c) (2), in which both the alpha-amino groups of the alpha- and beta-chains have reacted with cyanate, (ii) alpha(c) (2)beta(2), in which the alpha-amino groups of the alpha-chains have reacted with cyanate, and (iii) alpha(2)beta(c) (2), in which the two alpha-amino groups of the beta-chain have reacted with cyanate. 2. The values of n (the Hill constant) for alpha(c) (2)beta(c) (2), alpha(2)beta(c) (2) and alpha(c) (2)beta(2) were (respectively) 2.5, 2.0 and 2.6, indicating the presence of co-operative interactions ...
Pascoe RR.Repair of a rupture of the bladder in a foal
has been reported in Australia by Bain (1954).
The condition is well recognised in veterinary
literature and been described by Leader (1952),
Du Plessis (1958), Darbishire (1961) and Kealy
(1961). The usual case, as reported by Leader
(1952), is that of a dorsal tear. The present
paper describes a case with several variations
from those previously reported.
Mozzaquatro FD, Verstegen JP, Douglas RH, Troedsson MH, Delacorte FD, Silva CA, Rubin MI.Ultrasound-guided follicular aspiration was performed in 26 Criollo crossbred mares, followed by the evaluation of ultrasonographic images of the Corpus luteum (CL) that was formed after puncture of follicles of different diameters (Group 25-29 mm; Group 30-35 mm and Group >35 mm). Serum progesterone (P(4) ) concentrations were measured to determine CL function. The size of the CL was measured and the CL was classified based on the following echoscore: 1- anechoic tissue; 2- poorly defined luteal structure with low echogenicity; 3- echogenicity analogous to a luteal structure. The proport...
Sanada Y, Noda H, Nagahata H.The blastogenic response of lymphocytes from 16 newborn foals naturally infected with Rhodococcus equi was investigated, in order to evaluate the relationship between R. equi infection and depressed host response. Naturally infected foals showed evidence of R. equi infection at 5-6 weeks of age, as determined by clinical, haematological, bacteriological and serological methods. The blastogenic response of lymphocytes against phytohaemagglutinin was significantly depressed (stimulation index < 1.80; P < 0.01, P < 0.05) in R. equi-infected foals at 5-6 weeks of age compared with those o...
Lavach D.Performance and pleasure horses depend upon their ability to see and assess the environment. Thus, the veterinarian must be able to examine the eyes and recognize abnormalities so that the owner or purchaser can be informed about the visual status and prognosis for the horse's vision. If the veterinarian encounters suspicious or abnormal findings during the examination, a more detailed examination and/or referral to a veterinary ophthalmologist can be recommended to the owner or purchaser.
Kaminski M, Metenier L, Sykiotis M, Ryder OA, Demontoy MC.1. Among several species of Equidae only E. przewalskii possesses a serum esterase identical with that of E. caballus. 2. The esterases of Hemionidae differ slightly from that of domestic horse by electrophoretic migration and by antigenic structure. 3. Zebras (grevyi, burchelli) appear devoid of this component but Z. hartmannae possesses an esterase of high enzymatic activity, differing notably from that of horse by electrophoretic and antigenic properties.
Underwood C, Collins SN, Mills PC, Van Eps AW, Allavena RE, Medina Torres CE, Pollitt CC.Pharmaceutical agents with potential for laminitis prevention have been identified. Many of these, including the MMP inhibitor marimastat, are impractical for systemic administration. This study compared local delivery of marimastat by regional limb perfusion (RLP) to systemic intravenous bolus dosing (SIVB), and established whether RLP results in local lamellar drug delivery. Six adult horses received 0.23 mg/kg of marimastat by RLP followed by 0.23 mg/kg marimastat by SIVB, with a 24-h washout period. Lamellar ultrafiltration probes sampled lamellar interstitial fluid as lamellar ultrafiltra...
Harrison LA, Squires EL, Nett TM, McKinnon AO.Natural GnRH and its analog have potential for hastening ovulation in mares. A study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a GnRH agonist given either as an injectable or s.c. implant for induction of ovulation in mares. Forty-five seasonally anestrous mares (March) were assigned to one of three groups (n = 15/group): 1) untreated controls; 2) i.m. injection of the GnRH agonist buserelin at 12-h intervals (40 micrograms/injection for 28 d or until ovulation) and 3) GnRH agonist administered as a s.c. implant (approximately 100 micrograms/24 h for 28 d). Six mares per group were bled on d 0...
Wilson DG, Mays MB, Colahan PT.Seven horses with canker had radical surgical debridement and various irritant substances applied to the wounds. Four of the horses were clinically normal in (mean) 3.6 months, 1 mare was lame, and 2 horses were euthanatized because of complications of their treatments. Seven horses that had minor surgical debridement and antimicrobial agents used systemically and topically were clinically normal in (mean) 1.4 months. Seemingly, canker in horses should be managed using minor surgical debridement and appropriate antimicrobial therapy.
Casola C, Pot SA, Lavaud A, Voelter K.Corneal cross-linking should be considered as treatment option in Friesian horses with infectious keratitis and corneal dystrophy. Optical coherence tomography, giving information of corneal structure, can help for diagnosis and monitoring.
Kero T, Kuussaari J.The purpose of this communication is to report the first diagnosed case of spinal ataxia in the horse in Finland. The horse was atactic and had a wobbling gait. Especially in turning and backing the rear legs tended to swing outwards. Macroscopical studies revealed malformation of the cervical vertebral articular facets and narrowing of the cervical vertebral canal. The vertebral malformation caused the degeneration of the spinal cord, through the compression of the cord. In this paper the macroscopial and microscopical findings are discussed and compared with the findings of other authors.
Volland-Francqueville M, Sabbah A.When medical history and clinical examination for a recurrent or chronic cough reveal the presence of perennial allergy, the practitioner would be advised to look for mites present in the horse's environment. He can propose this service to his clients.
McKellar GM, Collins AP.The surgical correction of midfacial deformities of the horse have rarely been undertaken. This article describes the successful management of a submucous cleft of the maxilla in a young colt. Details of the operative and perioperative medical and surgical management are described. The horse, now 5 years of age, has sired eight normal progeny.
Pusterla N, Vaala W, Bain FT, Chappell DE, Craig B, Schneider C, Barnett DC, Gaughan E, Papich MG.Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) has remained a devastating neurological disease of the Americas, especially in young performance horses. Prophylactic treatment strategies with diclazuril have shown to reduce seroprevalence and titer levels to Sarcocystis neurona in healthy horses continuously exposed to the apicomplexan parasite. The goal of this study was to determine if the FDA-labeled dose of 1 mg/kg of 1.56% diclazuril (Protazil) given once weekly to healthy adult horses would achieve steady-state concentrations in plasma known to be inhibitory to S. neurona in cell culture. Five ...
Edwards GB, Jones DG.The use of a thermoplastic linear polyester polymer orthopaedic tape in the treatment of six horses, one donkey and a bull with a variety of orthopaedic problems requiring immobilisation of a limb is described.
Erridge ME, Cox AL, Dixon PM.Peripheral caries of equine cheek teeth is a poorly described disorder and, in particular little is known of its histopathology. Histological examinations of decalcified sections of 21 equine peripheral caries-affected cheek teeth showed two different patterns of cemental lesions; including progressive enlargement of focal, flask-like lesions leading to breakdown of the adjacent cementum, and secondly; a more generalized flaking-off of thin layers of under-run, surface cementum. A thick layer of plaque and food material usually lay on the surface of affected cementum and also within cemental d...
Gaughan EM, Wallace RJ, Kallfelz FA.The effects of two local anesthetic agents on the diagnostic quality of nuclear medical bone images (NMBIs) of distal parts of the equine fore limb were investigated. Local effects on bone uptake of technetium 99m methylene diphosphonate (99mTc-MDP) 4 and 24 hours after perineural and intraarticular injection of mepivacaine hydrochloride and bupivacaine hydrochloride were evaluated in the carpal and metacarpophalangeal regions of 12 horses and ponies. Neither mepivacaine hydrochloride nor bupivacaine hydrochloride significantly altered the diagnostic quality of the NMBIs. The injection and sub...
Cothran EG, Henney PJ, King JA.The inheritance of the equine Tf F3 allele was examined in 39 parent-offspring combinations. For 26 of the cases the allele inherited by the offspring from the heterozygous parent could be determined. The proportion of individuals that inherited the F3 variant compared to the alternative allele was exactly 1:1. In five cases the parental phenotype was identical to that of the offspring. For the remaining eight cases the parent was homozygous for the F3 allele and all offspring had the F3 allele. The results were consistent with Mendelian inheritance.
Breeze RG, Brown CM, Turk MA.3-methylindole was administered orally and intravenously to horses and ponies in order to determine the ability of this chemical to provide a model of equine pulmonary disease. Both routes produced a severe and sometimes fatal pulmonary disease, characterised by bronchiolitis. Clinical signs developed 48 to 72 h after dosing and were most severe between Days 4 and 10 post dosing. Intravenous administration of 3-methylindole produced lung injury more rapidly and at a lower dose rate than the oral route. It is suggested that the respiratory condition induced by this chemical could become a metho...
Taylor BM, Chaffin MK, Hoffmann AR, Edwards JF, Arenas-Gamboa AM.Prolonged exposure to water, known as immersion foot syndrome in humans, is a phenomenon first described in soldiers during World War I and characterized by dermal ischemic necrosis. In this report, we describe the pathologic findings of a condition resembling immersion foot syndrome in 5 horses and 1 donkey with prolonged floodwater exposure during Hurricane Harvey. At necropsy, all animals had dermal defects ventral to a sharply demarcated "water line" along the lateral trunk. In 5 animals, histologic examination revealed moderate to severe perivascular dermatitis with vasculitis and coagula...
Hohenhaus MU, Lehmann B.Ultrasonography is a good means of monitoring follicular development in the mare and allows objective observation and measurement of follicular growth as well as identification of corpora lutea and hematoma in the ovary. The significance of ultrasonography in this field lies in the specific anatomical structure of the mare's ovary and the different phenomena preceding and accompanying ovulation, which are described in this paper. The last part deals with the handling and use of ultrasonography.
Stanley S, Wood T, Goodman JP, Henry PA, Woods WE, Chang SL, Tai HH, Watt D, Kwiatkowski S, Blake JW.We have raised antibodies and developed one-step enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for the diuretics ethacrynic acid and bumetanide as part of a panel of pre- and post-race tests for high potency drugs in racing horses. These ELISA tests are rapid (completed within one hour), sensitive, and can be read by eye. The ELISA detects ethacrynic acid at a drug concentration for half-maximal inhibition (I-50) of about 2.5 ng/mL for the parent drug. After dosing horses intravenously with 5 mg ethacrynic acid per horse, the parent drug or its metabolites are detectable in urine for at least 8 h...
Watson ED, Zanecosky HG.Fluid was aspirated from the preovulatory follicles of mares before and 12, 24 and 36 h after intravenous administration of hCG. Follicular fluid significantly (P less than 0.001) reduced lymphocyte blastogenesis in vitro and, at a dilution of 1:100, fluid collected at 36 h after administration of hCG was significantly more suppressive (P less than 0.01) than fluid collected before 36 h. Suppression of blastogenesis was reduced by extracting the follicular fluid with ether or by charcoal treatment (P less than 0.01) or by heating at 56 degrees C for 30 min (P less than 0.05). Preincubation of ...
Braun U, Förster M, Schams D.A case of intersexuality in an arabo-haflinger horse is described. The external genitalia consisted of mammary gland, vulva and hypertrophic clitoris; the inner genitalia of rudimental testes. The sexual behaviour was typically male-like. The chromosome analysis showed the female karyotype 64,XX. The presence of testes in a genetically female animal is explained by translocation of an Y-chromosome fragment bearing the gene for the H-Y-antigen.
Kawcak CE, Baxter GM.Recent innovations in surgical materials have helped to enhance wound healing and protect surgical wounds from infection. Materials such as polyglyconate have been evaluated in equine tissues and found efficacious. Other materials, such as poliglecaprone 25, appear to have qualities useful to equine surgery but are untested in equine tissues. Care must be taken to fully evaluate a new surgical material because its usefulness in equine tissues may not match that in human or laboratory animal tissues. Furthermore, use of disposable materials in surgery, although considered ideal for maintenance ...
Riebold TW.In conclusion, monitoring the depth of anesthesia plays an integral role in the anesthetic regimen. Although the use of sophisticated monitoring equipment has replaced some of the art of anesthesia and made assessment of depth of anesthesia more precise, a vigilant clinician still needs to serve as the animal's advocate. He or she must gather the data that are generated by machines, acquire data that monitoring equipment cannot obtain, assimilate all the facts, and make appropriate changes in anesthetic management.
Mair TS, Pearson GR.A 3 1/2-year-old bay gelding of the cob type showed nervous signs and coughing associated with breaking-in and exercise. At post-mortem examination, heavy melanin pigmentation of the meninges of the hind brain and the medulla was identified and, on histological examination, melanin-containing cells were found within connective tissue extending into the medulla. The lesion was considered to be a melanotic hamartoma.
Komosa M, Włodarek J, Dzierzęcka M, Nienartowicz-Zdrojewska A, Tołkacz M.The problem of navicular bone lesions is better understood in warmblood horses. The aim of our research was to compare pathologic lesions of navicular bone of different types of horses divided into age groups. An extra goal was to compare radiographs with anatomical status of navicular bone dissected from the hoof capsule. The study group included 161 horses, out of which 100 individuals were warmbloods, and 61 - coldbloods. In total 280 navicular bones were analysed. The flexor surface, distal border fragments, enthesophytes and the process of obliteration of nutrient foramina were analysed. ...
West Nile virus in Europe and the USA. Evidence that the spread of vesicular stomatitis in the USA is beginning to slow. Summary of UK surveillance testing, July to September 2015 These are among matters discussed in the most recent quarterly equine disease surveillance report, prepared by Defra, the Animal Health Trust and the British Equine Veterinary Association.
Su XZ, Morris DD, McGraw RA.We report the molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence of the equine gene encoding tumor necrosis factor alpha. The 2610-bp genomic sequence was derived from three overlapping polymerase chain reaction products.
Paskin R.The equine influenza outbreak detected in August 2007 in New South Wales and Queensland did not enter Victoria, which was, however, considered at risk because of its sizable border with New South Wales. Accordingly, Victoria implemented a response plan to prevent disease entry and enable early detection of any disease. Horse movement restrictions, surveillance strategies and public awareness formed a large part of this response.
